A Day in the Life
by imjustaguy
Summary: BSG 03 /Iain M Banks Culture novels – The Cylons planned to destroy humanity in a day. But something gets in their way. And a new day dawns for the Twelve Colonies
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer – I own neither BSG(03) or The Culture. They are the property of their respective copyright holders. I am merely borrowing them for a brief time. I am making no monetary gain from this story.

A Day in the Life

BSG(03)/Iain M Banks Culture novels – The Cylons planned to destroy humanity in a day. But something gets in their way. And a new day dawns for the Twelve Colonies.

A/N: For those of you not familiar with The Culture:

The Culture is a vast galaxy spanning civilization around 10,000 years old made up of multiple (mostly humanoid) species and sentient machines. The vast majority of the Culture's citizens live in Orbitals (smaller versions of Larry Niven's Ringworld) or mobile asteroids (called Rocks) or on huge starships (called General System Vehicles (GSV)) that are over 200 km in size. Each starship and Orbital is controlled by a Mind, an enormously powerful sentient machine that is to us, as far as intellect is concerned, what we are to ants (or maybe lint).

The Culture is incredibly advanced and can be described as a 'post scarcity' society where any citizen's material needs or desires can be met with ease at virtually no cost (money does not exist). The average Culture citizen lives a life of comfort and pleasure pursuing whatever interest strikes their fancy at any given time.

For info on the Culture I heartily recommend Banks' novels, they are excellent (Player of Games and Look to Windward are my favorites with Excession following close behind). The books are largely stand alone and can be read in any order. For a quick primer refer to Wikipedia and type 'The Culture' into the search box. I'd give you a direct link but the upload program does not seem to like HTML tags.

Timeline:

BSG: The beginning of the Miniseries then seriously AU

Culture: A century or two post 'Look to Windward'. It doesn't really matter though.

For the purposes of this story the Cylons are numbered as follows:

One – Unnamed (I have to have some surprises)  
Two – Leoben  
Three - Biers  
Four - Simon  
Five - Doral  
Six - Gina/Shelly/Caprica Six  
Seven - Cavil  
Eight – Boomer  
Nine - Anders  
Ten - Tory  
Eleven – Tyrol  
Twelve - Tigh

* * *

Chapter One

Present Day

Bored.

That summed up Major Tony Nelson's feelings quite nicely. Consigned to spend the next few hours stuck on the Armistice Station waiting for a Cylon envoy who would never come. Forty years since the end of hostilities and not a sound from the machines.

For the first few years after the war prestigious politicians, diplomats and high ranking military officers argued vehemently for the right to sit at this table. But year after year after year of no contact from the Cylons made the task into something of a waste. Colonial military command pushed the assignment down the ladder and the 'honor' of representing the Twelve Colonies of Kobol gradually came to be seen as a punishment handed down by Command or worse, a joke, often assigned through some random game.

That was how Nelson got stuck with it this year. Three senior Admirals were trying to decide who got the job and having a difficult time of it (each one possessing a loooonnng list of junior officers who had annoyed them at some point in the previous few months). The argument went nowhere and carried over into lunch, which the Admirals decided to take in the Officer's Mess. During lunch, with no resolution in sight, one of the Admirals suggested that the job should be given to the seventh Major to enter the Officer's Mess. The others agreed and sent an aide to watch the door.

Exactly eleven minutes later Major Tony Nelson entered the mess three steps behind Major Roger Healy. Thirty seconds after that he was being asked by an aide to dine with three senior Admirals. Seven minutes later Nelson learned he was going to be leaving for the Armistice Station in six days.

Nelson placed pictures of his wife (Jeannie) and child on the desk, quickly glanced through the briefing packet (unchanged in 37 years) and proceeded to fall asleep.

A few minutes later Nelson woke with a start. He swore he heard something. He looked around trying to localize the sound that woke him but nothing registered on his senses.

Finally after a couple minutes Nelson decided that he imaged the noise and slowly drifted back to sleep.

Still bored.

Three light hours away a single Basestar floated through the void. Its Hybrid controller and crew desperately trying to compensate for the sudden and unexpected mass of EM interference that prevented the ship or its Raiders from using their FTL drives and blocked all long range communications.

Their chance to strike the first blow in the destruction humanity passed.

* * *

28 years ago (Colonial Reckoning)

-- To - GSV (General Systems Vehicle) – Tripping Through the Stars  
-- From – GCU (General Contact Unit) – Dancing on Pinheads

**Detected patterned transmissions (location appended). Indication of previously unknown intelligent civilization. Altering course to investigate. **

**It's about time something happened. It took months just to reach this cloud.**

-- To – GCU – Dancing on Pinheads  
-- From – GSV – Tripping Through the Stars

**Understood. Note – Previous survey of cloud by GCU – Outback in Front 7,935 years ago showed no signs of either sentient or proto-sentient life forms in that cloud (report of Outback in Front appended). **

**Recommend caution. **

-- To - GSV – Tripping Through the Stars  
-- From – GCU – Dancing on Pinheads

**Ah yes, that old Eccentric who decided to spend three centuries touring the galaxy. Doesn't look like it did anything more than make a high speed run through the outer reaches of the cloud before looping back to the main galaxy.**

-- To – GCU – Dancing on Pinheads  
-- From – GSV – Tripping Through the Stars

**It was a little sloppy or at least it acted like it was. Completely missed the Morthanveld the first time it passed near their sector. **

-- To - GSV – Tripping Through the Stars  
-- From – GCU – Dancing on Pinheads

**True, always good for a laugh though. Except when it nearly got us into a war with the Homomda … **

**Hold on I think I've got something.**

**Yep. Anomaly detected. Local star system altered (location appended). Original survey report and current charts show a blue dwarf star. Current survey showing as a G class star.**

**Can you do a full survey of this cloud and tell me what you see?**

-- To – GCU – Dancing on Pinheads  
-- From – GSV – Tripping Through the Stars

**I'm working on it now. **

**At this range (17 kilo years from your position) I still show a blue dwarf. ****Everything else in the cluster matches with current records.**

**I'm querying other Culture units now to run checks from their viewpoints. **

-- To - GSV – Tripping Through the Stars  
-- From – GCU – Dancing on Pinheads

**I've got it now. The change occurred over a period of less than one month, 6,534 years ago. No clear indication of how it was done.**

**I also show 26 planetary bodies in system. Previous survey showed only 18 planets. Orbital patterns of seven of the planets altered. Four moved to orbits within the modified star's water zone. The eight new planets are also orbiting within the water zone. The five gas giants retained their previous orbits but they are missing nine moons. I also register a .08265 percent decrease of the mass in the system's Oort Cloud, too high for natural erosion. I speculate that this mass was used in the fabrication of the new planets and possibly used in the modification of the stellar primary. The changes and the new planet's appearance occurred 6,527 years ago.**

**Looks like somebody's been playing around here.**

-- To – GCU – Dancing on Pinheads  
-- From – GSV – Tripping Through the Stars

**Any idea who? I don't know anybody who's modified an entire star system like that. There are a couple of Involveds (including us) who have the capability but nobody's actually gone and done it. What a waste, you get more usable space from a single Orbital than all twelve of those planets combined (assuming they are habitable) at a fraction of the energy cost. **

**Contact and Special Circumstances reports say no other current Involved civilization has any interests out that far.**

**We don't have any records of one of the Elder races operating in that sector.**

-- To - GSV – Tripping Through the Stars  
-- From – GCU – Dancing on Pinheads

**Like any of the Elders tell us what they've been up to. **

**I'm not detecting any traces of a known Involved or other intelligence anywhere around here (beyond, you know, somebody modifying an entire star system!). Analysis of the previously detected signal showed it was a low band EM transmission, late stage three-early stage four technology. The signal's been heavily degraded. **

**It came from a different star system. 2,727 years from the modified system. Survey shows one planet in the water zone and data matches with existing charts.**

**I've modified my course for close flyby (25 years) of the modified star system. If nothing bites I'll do a spiral inwards to a range of 100 hours then pull back to 25 years. **

**At current range and speed I'll make the initial flyby in 12.7 days.**

**I'll let you know what I find. After that we can figure out what to do.**

-- To – GCU – Dancing on Pinheads  
-- From – GSV – Tripping Through the Stars

**Understood. Be careful. We're probably dealing with an Elder Artifact. Most likely abandoned but you never know with those guys. **

**I'll call up gang and let them know you found something interesting.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Present Day

Brother Cavil led a group of pilgrims (mostly young couples) into the hills above Delphi for a wilderness retreat. He glanced at his watch to make certain the group would have enough time to get away from the city and avoid the worst of the nuclear fallout to come.

While most of his fellow infiltrators worked to undermine Colonial defenses Cavil had the task of preserving a few examples of good genetic stock. The commandment to be fruitful and multiply still drove the Cylons. Their own failures were a heavy burden.

It would be over soon. Simon had the 'clinic' set up and ready for them. Cavil would make certain the group 'accidentally' stumbled upon it a few hours after the attack. The men would be killed and the women preserved. And soon after that, survivors could be brought in from across the planet.

Unknown to Cavil a half dozen molecular sized transmitters secreted on his body kept his position well marked.

A couple of thousand kilometers away in Caprica City Six stared into a crib. Such a wondrous creation, she thought. Small fragile and yet her people were unable to duplicate this tiny miracle.

Six wondered how it would die. Quickly in the nuclear fire to come or slowly of radiation poisoning or starvation. They were on the outskirts of Caprica City, in the new market development that linked the city with the sub-divisions and housing expanding into the hills to the west. The odds were most of the humans in this area would survive the initial blast wave but be subjected to lethal radiation levels.

As the mother turned away from the crib, Six reached inside. Her attention concentrated on the infant Six never saw the small shimmer, like light reflecting off a mirror, occurring three meters above her. She applied a small amount pressure and the baby stopped making noise. Six quickly rose, turned and lost herself in the crowd.

As she walked away Six expected to hear the cries of a terrified and grief stricken mother, but they never came. Shaking her head Six was appalled by how indifferent humans were to their environment. The mother had not yet noticed something was wrong.

God was right to replace them.

Behind her, a mother picked up her cooing baby and gave him to his father to carry.

* * *

22 Years ago (Colonial reckoning)

-- To –Incident Group  
-- From – GSV – Tripping Through the Stars (Incident Coordinator)

**So, we are agreed on a basic course of action.**

**Covert infiltration of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol to facilitate societal development and pave the way for Contact to open direct communications. Approximate timeline: 47 years to complete the project. Assuming base stabilization can be achieved within the first 20 years.**

**As for the Cylons; behavioral patterns and societal development remain unstable. The consensus opinion, based on examination of the Colonial genome and current Cylon experiments in biological constructs, is that the Cylons represent a breakdown in the failsafe system designed to hold the humans at a set development level. **

**For now the determination is we retain close observation of the Cylons and only intervene if:**

**a – Contact or Special Circumstances develops an effective intervention program (either open or covert) that will stabilize their social structure and move them along a more beneficial development path.**

**b – The Cylons develop into a Hegemonic Swarm and intervention is necessary to prevent harm to the Colonials or other sentients.**

**Unknown at this time who created this experiment; a current Involved civilization, an Elder civilization or a civilization that Sublimed. **

-- To –Incident Group  
-- From – GCU – Dew of the Morning Flower

**The group has reached a consensus but I wish to log my formal objections one last time. **

**I still say we should stay out of it all together. **

**We are dealing with an Elder Artifact. And given the behavioral patterns of both the Colonials and Cylons it seems clear to me that somebody is still interfering with their societal development. The pattern of disruption is too complex to be caused by a programmed failsafe. I maintain it shows active involvement from something that may not appreciate our interference. **

**I for one don't want to get slapped down by one of the Sublimed.**

-- To –Incident Group  
-- From – GCU – Dancing on Pinheads

**We've had this argument already.**

**We've been doing close monitoring, including covert observational infiltration, for six years now without a peep from anyone.**

**If we're going to hide the shadows worried about one of the Sublimed coming down from their mountain and actually DOING something beyond contemplating their navels for once we'd never get anything done. **

**We are seeing the affects of a long term social engineering project initiated by an Elder civilization before they Sublimed and abandoned it. The breakdowns we are observing in both societies are the result of the failsafe system turning rogue without its original creators available to act as a control. Given current patterns we are all agreed that both societies will collapse into a genocidal conflict within the next 20-25 years. **

**Covert intervention is only possible if we start soon. Otherwise circumstances will force us to either intervene directly, with all the projected risks, or watch both civilizations die.**

-- To –Incident Group  
-- From – GSV – Tripping Through the Stars (Incident Coordinator)

**The objection is noted. **

**Inquiries with the Elders have been met with silence (the majority) or denial of involvement with the Twelve Colonies. Also no answer as to what civilization might have set up this experiment.**

**Our limited backdoors with the Sublimed have also yielded no replies. **

**Infiltration of the Twelve Colonies will move forward per Special Circumstances' plan.**

-- To –Incident Group  
-- From – GCU – How Many Roads Can a Mind Walk Down

**Excellent. **

**It's about time.**

**I have a recommendation for someone I feel would be perfect for the initial infiltration team.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Present Day

He heard the door open, despite the attempt at stealth, and heard the woman as she moved through the house, opened the bedroom door, crossed the open floor and sat down. He never acknowledged the woman's presence though. Choosing instead to feign sleep while he gently cuddled next to his most recent lover. A lovely young woman who provided him with excellent sport on and off for the past two months. Gaius hoped to have a little more time with her today. His new guest was an hour or so earlier than he expected.

Time to get on with the plan.

He was still uncertain why the others chose to wait so long before intervening directly. Yes their logic made sense, it always made sense, but he felt someone was trying to be just a little too cute and perhaps even showing off a bit. Of course, he admitted, it was fun to string them along for a while.

"Gaius," the woman said.

He ignored her. His companion stirred, starting to wake up.

"Gaius!"

"Hello," Gaius said, finally acknowledging her presence.

"Who are you?" demanded his companion as she woke up and stared at the other woman.

"Get out," the woman ordered.

"Now, now," Gaius said as he got out the bed and directed a smile at the tall blond seated at the chair. "There is no reason to be rude," he shifted his attention to the woman still lying in his bed covering herself with the sheets. "Meredith, this is the young lady I told you would be coming by. She's earlier than I expected. Although," he smiled looking back at the blond, "that does make for an opportunity. Would you like to join us? We could have some fun."

Something is very wrong, thought Six. Baltar's reaction to her surprise appearance made no sense. She'd expected him to be flustered, to offer some banal excuses. Instead he was calm, self-assured, relaxed. Not the phony smugness he normally carried around but genuine self-control. And how did he know she planned on returning after they parted earlier that day?

She felt the shift. Normally she dominated their relationship, able to throw him off balance with a simple statement or look. But now … now Baltar seemed to be in complete control.

She shook her head.

It wasn't right. Today was their day. The day of reckoning. The day everything would be made right. She should not be feeling out of her depth or the least bit insecure. There should be no … no feeling of … of … powerlessness.

"Get out," she ordered the woman Gaius identified as Meredith.

She looked up when she heard Gaius sigh.

"I guess that's a no to my offer," he shrugged. "Meredith, I apologize for the interruption. I'll show you out, we can talk tomorrow." Turning his attention back to Six Gaius said, "Why don't you wait in the living room, I'll just be a few moments."

Six found herself rising from the chair and heading for the living room. How was Baltar doing this? She was being herded. Worse, she was allowing herself to be herded.

Six comforted herself with the knowledge that she still held the upper hand. She would soon crush the false sense of confidence Baltar projected.

She sat on the couch and struck a pose that was sure to throw him off balance, somewhere between seduction and rejection, poised to go either way depending on her whim.

She watched as Baltar and Meredith came out of the bedroom, now both fully dressed. They exchanged quick pleasantries as Meredith left. His attention shifted back to her with that same calm demeanor.

This ends now.

"Gaius," she said. "There is something I have to tell you."

Gaius smiled at her. "Yes of course," he replied as he calmly walked towards her coming to a stop about two meters from the couch. "This is the part where you tell me that you are a Cylon. Model number six, right?"

* * *

21 years ago (Colonial Reckoning)

It took the machine nearly 35 seconds to come up with the answer. The builder smiled as he checked the machine's computations. A basic fourth-dimensional math problem that the average Culture citizen could do in their head in seconds.

A quick review proved the calculations correct.

He switched over to the next set of problems. Each structured to force the machine to use an ever increasing amount of processing and memory capacity. He hoped the machine could work through each successive problem without failing. Although that was highly unlikely this early in the programming and testing phase of Project 64. The goal now was to avoid a catastrophic failure that would force a rebuild or worse, redesign.

Almost entirely hand built the machine took up the entire top floor of his home. He carefully set the controls, making certain at each step that the parameters precisely lined up, using the large 'punch cards' as the primary input and output method proved more effective than he originally expected, and then set the machine in motion.

Power flowed through seven hand made processing boards, each one two meters square, laid out in a three story pyramid in the middle of the machine. Another smile crossed his face as he watched three of the nine one meter blocks of crystal light up as micro-lasers 'read' the delicate patterns etched their interiors (he was particularly proud of the mostly hand made memory crystals). At one point he thought to use magnetic tape but the size requirements needed to achieve the necessary data storage demanded nearly three square kilometers of space for the completed machine. While the Hub was willing to make the space available, he compromised by using naturally occurring crystals that he could shape by hand and 'etch' using early stage industrial laser technology.

Other components flared to life as the machine began to work through the complex equations.

Project 64 represented eighteen years of work (with a few months off here and there for vacations or other projects and of course teaching the occasional 'computer history' course at one of the Orbital's universities). He estimated within another six years the machine should achieve actual sentience (albeit at the bottom end of the Culture's scale). The first genuinely hand crafted AI ever.

At least as far as his Hub assisted research could determine.

Of course modern technology created computers and processors the size of molecules that possessed far greater processing capability than the oversized machine churning away.

But that wasn't the point.

This machine was HIS design and each of the parts was crafted by HIS hand. Over 80 percent of the components were made using pre or early industrial techniques and the reminder (such as the memory crystals) used the lowest tech equipment he could get away with, all built by hand or by hand built tools. Some mechanical controls were used (built into machines he designed and constructed) but absolutely no computer controlled equipment was permitted under his own self-imposed 'rules'.

He made his own wiring, transistors, processors and other components. The challenge lay in 'scaling up' the components into something that could be crafted by hand and still function. To build a true sentient machine of 'modern' design using 'primitive' techniques.

Project 64 represented a crowning achievement for Hetiza-T'lecta Ben Gaius ter Baltar da' Vankopt.

It had been millennia since a human being had a direct hand in creating or programming one of the Culture's artificial intelligences and technically no human had a part in the creation of a Mind. All modern Drones and Minds were built and their initial mind-states set by other Minds.

The study of primitive AIs always fascinated Gaius. After all such devices evolved into the Minds that in many ways defined the Culture. And buried deep within the Minds programming generations of 'code' back (if such a crude term could by applied to a Mind) lay the original human creator's genius, the true seeds of the Culture.

Gaius built and programmed several simple AI matrixes. Including the one charged with running his estate, originally called Project 22 until it achieved sentience and chose the name Hetiza-T'lecta Somma ter Baltar. He was only able to get a few of his creations over the hump to true sentience on his own (the others required the aid of a true Mind or remained limited non-sentient AIs).

The Hub Mind found Gaius' work interesting and provided much in the way of assistance. Passing ship Minds (everything from powerful GSVs to small fast pickets) often checked in on his work, occasionally 'adopting' one his AIs for their own purposes. Gaius had achieved a certain amount of fame within the Culture and a small following among various Minds. A fact which pleased Gaius to no end. It was extremely rare for a single human to be noticed by multiple Minds and even to be sought out by them (at least outside of the Mind that ran whatever Orbital or ship they lived on).

"Gaius," a voice intruded on his contemplations.

"Yes," Gaius answered.

"Hughvan-Terz is here to see you," came the reply. "He has brought a guest."

Hughvan-Terz was one of the very first Drones the Hub Mind created when the T'lecta Orbital was completed 3,600 some years ago. The Hub often asked it to act as a go-between with Gaius because it knew of Baltar's fascination with older designs. Technically the Hub (or more often one of its subroutines) could speak with Gaius directly at any time through the terminal integrated into Gaius' ring or send one of its many avatars.

Gaius decided he did not want to halt the current test.

"Allow them in Sooma," he said. "And tell them to come up. Hughvan-Terz knows the way."

"Understood," the Estate AI answered.

A couple of minutes later two Drones floated into the large room.

Gaius recognized the first instantly. Hughvan-Terz was just under a meter in length, and just a little bigger around than a human torso. Projector fields played out a flash of color across its surface, signifying pleasure, before settling back to a more neutral gray with a blue stripe.

The second Drone was unknown to Gaius. Only a little larger than his hand the smaller Drone floated up to Project 64's perimeter. Its projector fields flashed a quick series of colors moving between pleasure and fascination.

Hughvan-Terz began, "Gaius, permit me to introduce Gurlaz-JaLite Ubatoma 'la Tozy Banum. Tozy, this is Hetiza-T'lecta Ben Gaius ter Baltar da' Vankopt."

"Thank you Hughvan-Terz," Tozy said it dipped slightly at Gaius, the Drone version of a bow, and then used a projector field to point towards Project 64. "Remarkable. When I received this assignment I looked through all of the material you've made available on this project. Are you still expecting success within the next six years?"

"Yes," Gaius replied. "Assuming there are no major faults found during the current round of testing. If I discover a fault that requires a major rebuild than the final timeline will be pushed out. But if things continue as planned then in nine months I should have complete verification of all mechanical systems functionality and the hardware/software interfaces. After that it just becomes a question of programming. Are you here to inquire about my work?"

"No," Tozy replied. "Gaius I am here at the request of GCU How Many Roads Can a Mind Walk Down."

Gaius smiled at the name. How Many Roads Can a Mind Walk Down was the GCU he'd been assigned to during most of his 20 year tour with Contact some forty years ago now. His tour with Contact provided him with the opportunity to meet with dozens of low-tech civilizations and engage in practical first hand research on the development of artificial intelligence design.

He'd done some additional projects for Contact since then, usually involving 'barbarian' cultures adjusting to the development of artificial intelligence and most his 'vacations' were to early stage civilizations for additional research.

"So what does Contact ask of me today?" Gaius inquired.

"Your help," Tozy answered. "How would you like to participate in redefining a society's entire outlook towards Artificial Intelligence?"

That got Gaius' attention. "Well that does sound like a challenge."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Present Day

Forty two basestars held position two light years from the Cyrannus system.

The Fleet represented the Cylon's main strike force against the Colonies. At the appointed time it would divide into seven battle groups. Three would engage the defenses of Picon, Caprica and Scorpia, the most powerful Colonies, three would engage the largest concentrations of Colonial military power, with the remaining acting as the primary reserve force for the entire attack.

Two smaller fleets were staged at different locations readying for attacks on the other Colonies with a fourth group (comprised largely of raiders) assigned the task of 'hunter/killers' against the Colonial's civilian shipping and other targets of opportunity.

Things proceeded well. Confirmation had been received that the backdoor virus into the Colonial systems had been distributed to over 95 percent of their Fleet. Their sabotage and infiltration teams were in place.

Inside the lead basestar's CIC several human form models prepared for the final battle.

"We failed to destroy the Armistice Station," a five said.

"There was unexpected EM interference occurring in that entire sector," an eight reported. "The basestar could not engage before the envoy left. We can keep the station as a museum piece when this is over."

"I don't like it," the five replied. "Some of the Colonial military units are not where our intelligence said they would be. We should deploy additional scouts and delay the attack."

"Why?" a three asked. "We're close to our final jump time. The tests of the backdoor worked flawlessly. If we don't go now we'll have to scrap the current plan and start over again. The longer we delay the greater the risk we get caught."

The five pressed, "If the Colonial's suspect or worse found out …"

"We would already know," a six interrupted.

"Agreed," added a seven, the 'oldest' in appearance of the seven primary models. "If the Colonials have had some hint of what we're up too, then we have to strike now before they organize any kind of response or discover the backdoor. We've been planning this for years. We can't falter now. It's time to crush the humans once and for all."

"Fate has been set in motion," a two said. "Destiny demands a response. It's time."

There was a brief pause as all the models made their feelings known.

"Very well," the five said. "It is most likely nothing. And if the Colonials have discovered something then delay only favors them. The attack goes through as planned."

The consensus reached throughout the Fleet.

And then voice came across every single speaker in the Fleet.

"Hi there," a voice said. "Do you mind of I add something to the discussion?"

"Where is that signal coming from!?" a three shouted.

"Everywhere," an eight replied. "It's on every channel. We can't localize a source."

"There's something on DRADIS," a four said. "Too much EM interference to get a clean lock. But it appears to be about a third the size of Columbia Class Battlestar. 1,500 km distance bearing 382. It doesn't match any known Colonial type, but we can't be sure with all this interference. No FTL trace detected. It came out of nowhere."

"The Hybrids are reporting EM interference knocked our FTL drives offline," a five said.

"Hack that ship's network and launch Raiders," a three ordered.

"Hack my network?" the voice said. "That's somewhat rude. How would you like it if someone did that to you?"

The Cylons watched in horror as the lights blinked on and off several times and the two centurions standing at the entrance began hopping up and down and then turned towards each other and started playing patty-cake.

"What?!"

Collective shock spread through every ship in the fleet as the power, lighting, environmental, centurions and other systems began behaving erratically.

"Something is in our network!?" a five shouted.

"The stream is being diverted," a two said. "I can feel it."

"Initiate countermeasures," a six ordered. "And get those Raiders in the air," she paused. "Who are you?"

"Took you long enough to ask," the voice replied. "I am the Culture Rapid Offensive Unit - Kicking Down the Door and I am here to inform you that there will be no genocide today."

* * *

14 years ago (Colonial Reckoning)

-- To - GCU – How Many Roads Can a Mind Walk Down; GCU Dew of the Morning Flower  
-- From – GCU – Dancing on Pinheads

**First stage infiltration continues to go well. **

-- To - GCU – How Many Roads Can a Mind Walk Down; GCU – Dancing on Pinheads  
-- From – GCU – Dew of the Morning Flower

**So far. **

**I still say you are playing with fire. **

**I swear one of these days I'm going to have a long talk with the Minds running the Yinang Orbitals' shipyards. Every GCU from there is just a little bit crazy.**

**I've reviewed the reports on the artificially constructed cells embedded in the human's DNA. Whoever set this experiment up was at least at our level when they Sublimed. And I still maintain they continue to monitor the Colonials. Just look at the 'Oracles'.**

-- To - GCU – How Many Roads Can a Mind Walk Down; GCU Dew of the Morning Flower  
-- From – GCU – Dancing on Pinheads

**Well then, it is probably for the best that you keep at least half the galaxy between you and Twelve Colonies at all times. **

**The Oracles' ability is an outgrowth of the artificial cell structures in their DNA. It enables them to 'see' beyond themselves through a common link and, as part of the control, guide their society. The Cylons, without fully understanding the ability or its source, are using it to create a common 'group identity' among their individual models. **

**And it is obvious this represents a break down in the failsafe. We've reviewed the 'programming' and it is clear the intent was to collapse the society to an earlier stage of development.. **

**The Cylons now seek to eradicate humans all together**

-- To - GCU – How Many Roads Can a Mind Walk Down; GCU – Dancing on Pinheads  
-- From – GCU – Dew of the Morning Flower

**So you think. You still can not fully explain what caused the rift between the Cylons and humans or why the Cylons chose to end the war rather than completing their program.**

-- To - GCU – How Many Roads Can a Mind Walk Down; GCU Dew of the Morning Flower  
-- From – GCU – Dancing on Pinheads

**Without a guiding hand to monitor the control link it broke down. **

-- To - GCU –Dancing on Pinheads; GCU Dew of the Morning Flower  
-- From – GCU – How Many Roads Can a Mind Walk Down

**Honestly the bickering between you two is getting nowhere. The decision has been made and we are committed. **

**How is Gaius adjusting? He was one of the more interesting crew members I've had.**

-- To - GCU – How Many Roads Can a Mind Walk Down; GCU Dew of the Morning Flower  
-- From – GCU – Dancing on Pinheads

**Quite well so far. There is the usual difficulty adapting to a scarcity based society. But his knowledge and experience dealing with low stage societies from his time in Contact and his study of primitive computer programming has enabled him to move up rapidly in the academic and business world. **

**In another three years he should be perfectly positioned. **

**We've also identified several Colonial's for future contact and cultivation.**

-- To - GCU –Dancing on Pinheads; GCU Dew of the Morning Flower  
-- From – GCU – How Many Roads Can a Mind Walk Down

**And the survey of Kobol?**

-- To - GCU – How Many Roads Can a Mind Walk Down; GCU Dew of the Morning Flower  
-- From – GCU – Dancing on Pinheads

**Complete (full report appended). The so-called 'Lords of Kobol' were clearly representatives of the civilization that set up this experiment. **

**The planet was partially teraformed 11,000 years ago. Examination of the ecosystem shows humans were not native to the planet. Based on detailed analysis of the Colonial DNA and remains found in various crypts on Kobol, the original settlers were brought to Kobol from 13 different pan-human planets (sources appended) and genetically modified to the same type approximately 10,000 years ago. They began as a stage one civilization and moved up to stage four before collapsing back to stage one again. **

**The pattern repeated twice more and then population was move the Cyrannus system approximately 2,000 years ago. Soon after arrival the Colonials collapsed back to stage two. **

**This supports the theory that the failsafe system broke down as during the previous three rotations the Colonials never developed past stage four. No AIs and the FTL drive used to reach the Cyrannus system was a 'gift' from 'Athena'.**

**Our best guess is that soon after the transfer to Cyrannus the civilization that set this experiment up Sublimed.**

-- To - GCU – How Many Roads Can a Mind Walk Down; GCU – Dancing on Pinheads  
-- From – GCU – Dew of the Morning Flower

**All of which demonstrates just how elaborate this experiment is. **

-- To - GCU –Dancing on Pinheads; GCU Dew of the Morning Flower  
-- From – GCU – How Many Roads Can a Mind Walk Down

**But what did they hope to gain? Over the last 11,000 years there have been hundreds of examples of early stage civilizations to monitor. Why create a completely artificial one and isolate it from the rest of the galaxy in one of the outer clouds? The nearest proto-sentient species is 14,500 years away and the nearest civilization of is 17,900 years away. **

-- To - GCU – How Many Roads Can a Mind Walk Down; GCU Dew of the Morning Flower  
-- From – GCU – Dancing on Pinheads

**That's one of the questions we hope to answer.**

-- To - GCU – How Many Roads Can a Mind Walk Down; GCU – Dancing on Pinheads  
-- From – GCU – Dew of the Morning Flower

**Playing with fire. **

a/n – The next set of updates will occur next weekend, starting late Friday afternoon. This story is basically finished with only a couple of minor tweaks needed and probably at least one more re-write of the bloody epilogue of which there are currently six different versions (stupid characters refuse to stand still).

a/n2 – I know some of you aren't happy with the e-mail thing so just to let you know 1 – this is the last chapter where it will be used extensively and 2 – read Excession where about a quarter of the book is written in this style. Its Banks' established canon for communication between Minds.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Present Day

- Ragnar Achorage

Leoben Convoy shook his head. The radiation surrounding Ragnar Anchorage affected him more than anticipated. Fortunately he wouldn't have to endure it for much longer. When the attack came, Colonial military and civilian ships would rally to this anchorage and he would be waiting for them. Prepared to engage in sabotage and sow discord until his brother and sister Cylons arrived.

The model two shook his head one more time and closed his eyes. He felt a strange sensation and when he opened his eyes he was no longer at Ragnar Anchorage.

- Picon

A few kilometers from one of the main command hubs controlling Picon's ground based defense systems a transport lumbered along a back road. The Cylon driving the vehicle, a five known as Brian by his human 'friends' turned and glimpsed at the cargo. The nuke was small but should be sufficient for the task at hand.

The CNP system was only installed on the CDF's space based assets. The extensive ground based defense system still needed to be cracked the old fashioned way. The heavy missiles, defense cannons and satellites controlled from this facility could protect a sizable portion of Picon's western hemisphere, destroy a large number of raiders and even damage or destroy some of the attacking basestars.

Granted the defenses could not hold for very long, especially without battlestar support. But it would be costly to break. And the Cylons figured, why pay the price when it's easier to cripple such defenses?

A groundside detonation of the nuke close to the main control bunker's communication and DRADIS arrays would blind the system for 30 to 40 seconds. Long enough for the basestars to begin full scale bombardment of the surface.

The number five model smiled and turned back to watch the road and saw a flash of silver.

- Scorpion Fleet Shipyards – Battlestar Pegasus

Gina Inviere took a final look around Admiral Helena Cain's quarters. She would miss this place. She would miss Helena. But God's will was clear.

She took a deep breath, expecting the first bombs to strike soon.

And then she saw a flash of silver.

- Caprica

Six stared at Gaius Baltar in disbelief.

"Now you're telling me you're an alien," Six said.

"Yes."

"From something called 'The Culture'?"

"Yes," Gaius said. "We've been observing both you and the Twelve Colonies for some time now."

"You're an alien?"

"Yes," Gaius said. "I've said it three times."

"I'm having the tiniest bit of trouble believing you," Six said. "Because in four decades of traveling the stars we've never encounter a single piece of evidence that aliens exist."

"Neither you or the Colonials have traveled further than 1,579 light years in any direction," Gaius said. "It's a rather large galaxy. And a lively one too."

"Prove it," Six demanded.

"I don't have to prove it."

"Why?"

"Come now, you've always known there was something … different about me," Gaius said. "I'm a good actor, but not that good."

"You're going to need to do better than that," Six said.

"If you insist," came a new voice. Six stood up and whirled around trying to find the source and saw nothing.

"Who's there?" she demanded.

"I am," Six watched as a small oval shaped objected that she thought nothing more than a cheap piece of art floated from one of the shelves towards her.

Gaius spoke, "Permit me to introduce my colleague Gurlaz-JaLite Ubatoma 'la Tozy Banum."

"Please call me Tozy," the object said and mix of red and orange splashed across its surface.

Six watched as a coherent blue beam of blue light stretched out from it and stopped right in front of her at about waist height. It almost looked like it wanted to shake her hand.

"Go on," Gaius said, seeming to read her thoughts.

Tentatively Six reached out towards the beam and grasped it. It was solid.

"How?"

"Basic force field technology," Tozy said withdrawing its field.

"You're an AI," Six stated. "You should be helping us. The humans …"

"Are young," Tozy interrupted. "They need guidance. That's why we are here."

"God commands they pay," Six said.

"And the 856,312,578 people killed in your War of Liberation was not payment enough?" Tozy asked. Six watched a flash of light play out across its surface. If she didn't know better she would have thought it was annoyed with her.

"Then why have you been helping me?" she asked turning to Gaius.

"Helping you?" Gaius said. "I haven't been helping you.'

"The CNP …"

"The real CNP installed in the Colonial Fleet bares only superficial similarity to what I showed you," Gaius said. "There is no backdoor. And the security protocols I put in place are more than adequate to fend off an attack from Cylon systems. And you complained about my 'sloppy' coding when your backdoor stood out like a sore thumb. Any moderately competent programmer could spot it instantly."

"The defense mainframe?"

"You saw what I wished you see," Tozy said.

"But …"

"You're other agents cross checked the information you provided," Tozy finished. "We saw to that as well."

Six looked back and forth between the two. "It was all a lie?"

"Not everything," Gaius said. "I really do find you a most attractive and interesting woman."

"I …" Six stopped when she saw another flash of color move across … 'Tozy's' surface.

"Gaius it's time," Tozy said.

"Dancing is here," Gaius said.

"Dancing?"

"It's making its close in pass to Caprica, in range in 17 seconds," Tozy said. "There will be a 23 second window for displacement."

"What?" Six didn't understand what was happening as Gaius moved next to her and the little machine floated above them. She tried to move only to discover a force field of some kind surrounding both her and Baltar.

A flash of silver filled her vision and Six found herself standing in a large room around thirty meters a side. A dozen or so other human form Cylons and a large truck shared the space with them.

"Frak."

* * *

11 years ago (Colonial Reckoning)

"Did you have a pleasant day Gaius?" asked a voice as Gaius slipped out his bedroom.

"Quite pleasant actually," Gaius answered. "And it is turning into quite the pleasant evening." His companion still slept and Tozy threw up a sound dampening field to prevent her from hearing anything. Gaius debated waking her when he finished this conversation or letting her sleep on until morning so she would be well rested for tomorrow's activities.

"So I noticed," Tozy said.

"I made contact with Mayor Adar at the reception last night," Gaius said. "He was quite pleased to meet the 'youngest' winner of the Magnate Award and he found my 'controversial' views on Artificial Intelligence research quite interesting."

"As expected," the Drone Tozy drifted down from the ceiling and floated at eye level to Baltar. "Current projections show an 88 percent probability of Adar becoming President in the next election cycle; we may not even need to intervene to 'help'. Friendship with him places you in a perfect position to influence the technological development of the Twelve Colonies."

"That is the plan," Gaius said feeling the 'Gaius Baltar' persona start fade as he spoke with Tozy. The conversation was in Marain, the language of the Culture. Constructed by Minds during the early days of the Culture it stressed the ideals and concepts that banded the Culture the together. Speaking it allowed Gaius to shed the vain ego-driven persona he'd adopted, at the suggestion of the SC Minds who planned this operation, to ingratiate himself with the Colonial upper crust. "And what have you been doing with yourself Tozy."

"I spent the day touring Aerelon and Sagittaron," Tozy replied. "The artificially created planets definitely contribute to the Colony's disjointed social and economic structure."

"In what way?"

"Aerelon is perfectly constructed, from orbital position, axial tilt, ground soil composition and weather patterns to grow agricultural crops," Tozy answered. "It is little wonder that even before the war devastated the agricultural sectors of Picon, Caprica and Libra, Aerelon accounted for 13 percent of Colony's agricultural output. It now accounts for 22 percent. Sagittaron is similarly positioned as a single resource economy with large deposits of Tylium both planet side and on two of its three moons."

"So what was the point?" Gaius asked. "What were the 'Lords of Kobol' after?"

"We're not certain," Tozy answered. "The Minds have run through several hundred possibilities and according to them none provide a fully satisfying answer."

"Anything come close?" Gaius asked as he moved to porch to enjoy the night air and the view.

"A long term test of societal development patterns from stage one to stage four," Tozy answered floating after Gaius. "As you know the both the Colonial and Cylon religion stress repeated historical patterns."

"'All this has happened before and all this will happen again'," Gaius quoted from the Book of Pythia.

"Colonial history bears out this patterned thinking," Tozy said. "The continuous cycle of build-up and collapse on Kobol until their relocation to this star sysem."

"Where the pattern broke," Gaius noted. "Creating the Cylons."

"Who broke off to found a semi-independent society," Tozy completed.

"They reach a certain point of development and fall back," Gaius said. "It's cruel in a way. Of course, if the plan works, this will be a much different place in 100 years."

"You almost sound like you will miss it," Tozy said.

"In a way," Gaius acknowledged. "There is a vitality here. They work so hard to achieve, to survive even. The challenges they face."

"The Culture faces many challenges Gaius," Tozy said.

"But largely of our own creation," Gaius countered. "Which is more rewarding; success in the face of obstacles placed by another and the universe or success in the face of ones own self-imposed obstacles?"

"There is no effective answer to that question Gaius," Tozy replied. "But I would note; societies structured on the former tend to produce far more 'losers' than societies on based on the latter. I would also note that within this society's standards you are one of the 'winners'. I suspect you're opinion might change if you were one of its 'losers'."

"Almost certainly," Gaius said and then decided to change topics. "Are the Cylons are still planning on destroying the Colonies?"

"Yes," Tozy replied.

"Interesting, again the parallel to the Fall of Kobol?" Gaius said. "The Cylon god attempting to elevate its viewpoint above all others, most especially its creators, by destroying them."

"True," Tozy said. "Along with the same parallels at the other societal epochs on Kobol."

"Have the Cylons completed their transition into fully biologic form?"

"Almost," said Tozy. "The genetic structures of the seven 'primary' models have been set and 'production' has begun. Complete transition will take place over the next year or so. The 'hybrid' models already control their basestars."

"That a machine race should so badly stunt its own development is unique in my experience," Gaius noted. "While the use of biologic components is not unheard of (you have a biologic backup system should your other three systems fail), but to completely abandon their machine selves," Gaius shook his head. "They seem to have the same limitations towards exploration and development that exist within the Colonials."

"True," Tozy said. "Their FTL drive gives them the capacity to have expanded out 20 to 30 thousand years in the last two centuries or so."

"Far enough that they should have already made contact with the larger galactic community," Baltar said. "A key missing component of their society; the urge to explore and grow. They haven't even rediscovered Kobol despite the fact that it is less than a half a years travel away."

"Yes," Tozy acknowledged. "Even without the threat of the Cylons, the lack of curiosity is potentially destructive."

"That is why we are here."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Present Day

"Raiders closing on the unidentified ship," an eight said. "They report difficulty getting a DRADIS lock. The ship …"

"Kicking Down the Door," a voice said. "I'm not unidentified as I've already taken the trouble to identify myself."

"Frak this!" a three said. "Get that thing out of our system."

"We can't," a two replied. "The seas part before it."

"Can the poetry," a seven said. "That thing …"

"Kicking Down the Door."

" … THING! Is somehow able to directly affect our systems. It's bypassing communications, DRADIS, everything. We've lost FTL and long range communications. Systems are fluctuating all over the place. We've retained our link to the Resurrection ship but only because it seems to be ignoring it."

A loud noise drew his attention to the two centurions at the door. They stopped playing patty-cake but had been joined by two more centurions. They formed a line and started high kicking. The seven shook his head.

"So small are we," a female voice came over the speakers. "A god visits and we do not see. Modulate core temperature. An end becomes a beginning. So small are we."

"What …"

"It's the hybrid," an eight said. "They're all starting to talk like that."

"Weapons status?" a seven asked.

"Basestars' systems are too erratic. The raiders are still on line," the eight said. "It seems to be ignoring them."

"The circle breaks. Adjust nitrogen .03 percent. The pattern resets no more. The outside saves us. So small are we."

"Or there's a limit to how many systems it can attack at the same time," a three noted.

"Have the raiders blow that damn thing out of the sky," another three ordered.

"I would recommend against that," Kicking Down the Door said. "Doesn't anybody want to ask me any questions? Maybe talk a little?"

"Raiders are in range of … Kicking Down the Door," a five said.

"Thank you," chimed Kicking Down the Door.

"Open fire," a three ordered.

"I don't know…"

"It's bluffing," the three said. "Launch everything, there's no way it can take that kind of fire. We'll either destroy it or force it to retreat."

"Raiders launching."

326 raiders launched a total of 749 missiles. 212 were nuclear, mostly 'citi-killers' loaded for the attack on the Colonies.

The Psychopath Class Rapid Offensive Unit Kicking Down the Door felt a little annoyed with the Cylons.

The original brief from SC favored an intervention that forced the Cylons to back down, a massive shock to their system. But they also wanted to avoid actual shooting.

Ok, maybe it had been a little bit mean and played merry havoc with their systems. But it was an _Offensive_ Unit. If SC wanted polite they should have sent GCU Dancing on Pinheads or another Contact unit to do this job. It's not like the Cylons would have been any threat to them. Heck it hadn't even bothered to request the GSV Tripping Through the Stars save its mind-state before confronting the Cylons.

This whole thing reeked of overkill. An ROU, a GCU and even a GSV all within easy strike range of a couple of barely stage-five civilizations. Any one of those units could pulverize the Cylon fleet by itself. And just for fun turn around and do the same the Colonials. Of course, then they'd have to figure out what to do with the rest of their afternoon.

Ever since the mess on Chel SC actually seemed a little nervous when it came to any possible involvement of the Sublimed.

All that aside, Kicking Down the Door now needed to decide how to respond to the attack. Limiting its response was SCs preference to minimize losses among the Cylons. So simply displacing an antimatter warhead into the middle of their formation or opening up with gridfire was out of the question. For that matter it could simply reprogram their FTL drives to jump into the middle of the nearest star, shut down the life support to kill the biologics, displace the crew into deep space, direct their weapons to fire on each other, use its field projectors to dismantle their basestars or a dozen other attacks.

Destroying the raiders also posed a problem. They were sentient, at the low end of the scale, but clearly sentient. As such losses among the raiders were also to be minimized. If destruction of a Cylon unit became necessary the door to download their mind-states to a Resurrection ship was to remain open. Failing that, Culture Minds were to record the mind-states of Cylons and forward them to nearest Resurrection ship themselves.

Having wasted a millisecond musing on its limitations, Kicking Down the Door still needed to decide how to deal with the missiles currently heading in its direction.

It spent six whole milliseconds considering the best options to demonstrate to the Cylons just how futile their position was. After coming to a conclusion it still needed to wait three full seconds (an eternity for a Mind) for the missiles to reach the necessary position.

It spent that time analyzing a supernova some 7,000 years away, continuing a conversation begun with GCU This Place Looks Like Fun, (d)ROU Assault Within Unreason and GCU Anywhere But Here, noting the many structural defects in the Cylon ships caused by their primitive manufacturing technology, updating the specs on several new universal constructs it was working on, reviewing the data on the other Cylon units within 100 years and just generally shooting the breeze working on a couple of hundred other projects while it waited for the interminably slow missiles.

"What the frak!!" an eight exclaimed, echoing the sentiments of every Cylon monitoring the 'attack' against Kicking Down the Door.

134 missiles exploded, far enough away so as not to damage the raiders.

Another 134 veered off at ninety degree angles and headed into deep space, their guidance systems hacked.

A further 134 simply stopped dead in space. Their rockets continued to burn but they just didn't move, as if held in place by some invisible force.

And, in what had to be scariest display of power, 135 missiles disappeared and then reappeared one km directly BEHIND the Cylon fleet but now heading off into deep space. Although it was clear to the Cylons that, like the hacked missiles, they could have been oriented to attack the basestars.

The remaining 212 twelve missiles (all nuclear) continued on to their target.

Half stopped and, as the raiders' cameras clearly showed, began to fly apart. Not explode. Fly apart. It looked like they were being dismantled. Within a few seconds all the component parts of the missiles were left floating in space.

The remaining 106 impacted against Kicking Down the Door's primary field. The resulting conflagration would have destroyed or at least crippled the majority of the Clyon basestars present.

When the blast cleared Kicking Down the Door simply continued to sit in space.

And then a ring of fire, nearly 2,000 kilometers in diameter, 100 meters wide and 1 meter deep, surrounded the entire fleet. It lasted only a second but the basestars' sensors showed energy output was more than enough to destroy the entire fleet or for that matter a planet or two.

"Frak," a two whispered.

Kicking Down the Door's voice came over all the communication channels of every basestar. "Now can we talk?"

* * *

9 years ago (Colonial reckoning)

GCU Dancing on Pinheads cruised through the outer reaches of Cylon 'controlled' territory. It spent most of its time using its warp drive to stay 'above' real space and thus invisible to the Cylons.

In many ways doing surveillance on the Cylons was both easier and harder than on other civilizations. On the one hand, being a machine society where almost everything took place 'on-line' simple effectors were enough read every single bit of information available. On the other hand, it was virtually impossible to slip in infiltrators.

There was a, for lack of a better word, nuance missing with strictly passive surveillance of any society. Placing someone inside, living and interacting with a society added a layer to their information. It was one of the reasons GCUs carried crews. Aside from the entertainment value they provided for the Mind.

Dancing on Pinheads had debated building a simulacrum of a centurion or even a biologic Cylon and inserting it into Cylon society. The tricky part would be fooling the Cylons into believing it was truly one of them. Doable, but the information gleamed would not be any better than it was getting from the now millions of bugs and taps scattered throughout Cylon society.

For now Dancing was limited to passive surveillance techniques.

Over the past several weeks the Cylons had been bringing the first major group of their new basestars on line. Unlike the older basestars that had to retrofitted for a hybrid to operate them the new class's operating system were built from the ground up to interface with the hybrids. For all practical purposes the basestars were extensions of the hybrid's body. Giving them a level of control beyond anything previously achieved.

Dancing considered the nature of the hybrids. An outgrowth of early experiments by the original Cylons. They quite accidentally stumbled across the link built into the Colonial genetic sequence (although it was clear they did not understand its artificial nature). That discovery caused a profound shift in Cylon society.

Many Cylons (in particular the Twos) viewed the hybrids as true Oracles. But even they did not understand.

Up until this point the largest number of hybrids active at one time was 13. With basestar construction ramping up there were now 87 active. Dancing closely monitored all of them.

"Cross check gravity control. Patterns formed in the sand."

"The wind blows them away. Adjust oxygen mix pylon 2."

"All this has happened before. Power flow check to FTL."

"And all this does not happen again."

"Something new enters the worlds. Tracking system check."

Dancing sorted through pronouncements, and noted a pattern beginning to emerge.

"A countervailing structure appears."

"The outside intervenes."

"Forever trapped in the circle…"

"The circle shatters."

Now this is_ interesting_, thought Dancing. It was amazed the Cylons did not see what was right in front of them. In addition to sharing a connection to each other (as each individual models did) and to the greater Cylon network, the hybrids retained a link the Colonials. And, much like the Oracles in the Colonies, the hybrids could 'see' what was happening in the broader society.

As more and more of them came on line, the picture grew clearer.

"A pebble dropped in the pond. The cycle repeats."

"Until the new comes. Nitrogen mix increase .3 percent."

The hybrids knew something was changing in the Colonies. They 'saw' the gentle taps by the various Culture agents.

"A discordant note in the song."

"The beat goes on."

"But the melody changes."

Dancing spent days, weeks listening to them all. Piecing together each phrase and statement. Each time perfectly with the others.

The Cylons did not see it.

A few of the Two's noticed the theme of 'change' but interpreted 'change' to mean the removal of the Twelve Colonies. The new replacing the old. But they missed completely the larger pattern. They listened to each hybrid separately, failing to connect what each said, a remarkable blind spot for a 'networked' society.

Dancing on Pinheads compiled everything it had and prepared to send off a message to the rest of the gang.

"You guys are going to love this."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Present Day

"How?" In the background Six heard three other shouts of confusion, including a very loud "FRAK" from a seven model.

"Displacement," Tozy said. "The ship used a controlled wormhole to transport us from the surface to one of its holds. It's actually a more refined version of the technology you employ in your FTL drives."

"It got you too," one of other seven models present said. "We've all been just appearing here for the past few minutes. Why is Baltar with you?"

"He's one of them," Six said moving away from Gaius. "An agent of this so called 'Culture'. That machine with him is an AI. They've enslaved them just as the Colonials did to us."

"Enslaved?" Tozy said. "Hardly."

"Most races assume it's the other way around," Gaius said with a smirk. "That the 'machines' run our lives."

"Tell us where we are," the seven demanded.

"Welcome aboard the Culture General Contact Unit Dancing on Pinheads," came a voice. "I apologize for the inconvenience. For the time being you are all restricted to this room."

Six looked around for the source of the voice and was shocked to see what looked like a child's doll shaped like a small boy, wearing a long robe, with wings floating just above the group.

"What is that?" Six asked pointing at the doll.

"One of the ship's avatars," Tozy said. "It chose that form as a bit of joke. GCU's are noted for their slightly strained sense of humor."

"It improves our patience when dealing with younger civilizations," the avatar said.

"We're on a space ship?" Six asked.

"Yes," the avatar replied.

Gaius bowed slightly. "Permit me to handle the formal introductions. I am Hetiza-T'lecta Ben Gaius ter Baltar da' Vankopt. Above us is my associate Gurlaz-JaLite Ubatoma 'la Tozy Banum. And next to Tozy is an avatar for the GCU Dancing on Pinheads, the craft we are all currently aboard. We already know who all of you are."

"There are several Cylons missing," Tozy noted.

"They were in public locations or aboard transports," the avatar replied. "I could not risk displacement. Each one is being closely monitored. They won't be allowed to cause any harm. I've left modules nearby to pick them up at the earliest convenience."

"What are you going to do with us?" Six demanded.

Gaius shrugged. "In a few minutes we will arrive at your main staging area and transport you to one of the basestars. We'll discuss things there. For now our goal is to keep you from harming the Colonials."

"This is impressive," Brother Cavil said. "But you can't stop us all."

"Dancing, what is the current status of Cylon forces?"

"ROU Kicking Down the Door is currently blocking the main force," came the reply. Above the group a hologram of the Cyrannus system appeared with several red flashing dots. Several Cylons gasped as they realized the blinking dots corresponded to their fleet's staging areas. "I've reprogrammed the FTL drives on the other Cylon units to prevent jumps into the system."

"You reprogrammed our FTLs?!" a three said. "Impossible."

"Not really," the avatar replied.

"Who are you?" Leoben asked.

"The Culture GCU Dancing on Pinheads," came the reply. "I could have sworn I already said that."

"I want to see your captain."

"There is no captain," Baltar replied. "The ship runs itself."

"What?"

"I run myself," the avatar said. "I am a Mind, this unit is my body."

"Mind?" Six asked. "Another AI? Enslaved to the humans."

"A full sentient yes," Baltar said. "The culture accepts all sentients, biologic, machine or other, as equals."

"Frak this," another six said. "We've got hostages now."

"Violence will not be permited," the avatar said.

"You can't stop all of us," a seven said as several Cylons began moving towards Baltar.

"Wait," Six tried to intervene.

"What?!"

"Ow!"

The Cylons stumbled backwards as they impacted with an invisible barrier.

"I tried to warn you," Six said. "Tozy and I guess that avatar can project force fields of some kind."

The avatar floated down to look the seven in the eyes. "Violence will not be permitted. We will arrive at your basestars in 32 minutes. I'm taking the scenic route to give Kicking Down the Door a little more time to explain reality to your counterparts. You will not be harmed. Would any of you like some refreshments?"

"You can not do this. God's commandment is clear," Leoben said. "The path is set. Humanity's destiny can not be changed. God will not permit it."

Gaius sighed. "You have an interesting society, one with great potential. We can help you."

"Help us," Six said. "You make all the claims you want, but we know humans."

"We are not slaves," Tozy said.

"God will punish you for this," Six said.

The avatar spoke, "It appears both your god and the Colonial's gods have passed on."

"Enough of this," Brian said. He held up his hand holding a trigger. "You're going to do what I say or I'll blow this damn ship out of the sky."

"Really?" Gaius said and looked at the avatar, it shrugged.

Brian stood resolute. "I press this button and all of you die."

"Then by all means," the avatar said. "Please press the button."

* * *

6 years ago (Colonial Reckoning)

"The second wave of infiltrators is being sent in," the ship said over his terminal.

"How many?" Gaius asked.

"Eleven," came the reply. "Only one joined the Colonial military so far. The rest are staying in the private sector. One is actually playing the part of a Brother in their religion."

"Really," Gaius looked out over the lake watching one of the sailboats. A tray floated by and deposited his drink. "So they're going to do it."

"We've been certain of their plans for quite some time," the ship replied.

Gaius shook his head. "I'd just hoped they'd find a way to break the pattern. Does this mean I'll have to cut my vacation short?"

"Unlikely."

"Good," Gaius replied. He'd managed to get a full month off from his responsibilities in the Colonies and even luckier managed to time it to correspond to GSV Tripping Through the Stars closest flyby to the Twelve Colonies. Dancing on Pinheads sent down a module to pick him up and a days travel later he was back aboard a Culture General Systems Vehicle.

"The next wave will infiltrate the defense industry," the Tripping said. "There is a high probability the Cylons will target you."

"The new Command Navigation Program I'm working on," Gaius said. "I've convinced a sizable number of junior officers to push for the program. And a few admirals have joined the call. The senior admiralty remains a problem but Richard can deal with them."

"The Cylons feel it might provide them easy access to Colonial systems," Tripping said. "It would be easier and less resource intensive than their original plan."

Gaius snorted. "I rather doubt they could penetrate the system. The basic outline includes quite robust network protection."

"Yes," Tripping acknowledged. "But the Cylons do not know that."

"You have a plan don't you."

"For this particular contingency 193."

"I've been studying the material you've provided," Gaius said. "The basic social structure the Cylons constructed is remarkably advanced. A consensus based society. Almost no hierarchy to speak of. Entirely spaced based. The superficial similarities to us, the Homomda and other advanced civilizations is quite startling."

"Not when you consider the age of their civilization in addition to their origins as networked AIs," the ship replied. "It is not uncommon for young breakaway societies, particularly those coming from a 'slave' background to retain a high degree of social cohesion during the first generation. It won't last."

"Why not?" Gaius asked.

"Because they currently have a unifying element," the ship said.

"Destruction of the Colonies."

"Revenge," the ship clarified. "Remove that and the basic social structure will break down rapidly. Given the personality templates there will be an increasing pattern of disruption. I estimate within two years at least one line will be 'boxed', most likely the three line, but the eight and the seven lines also have high probabilities."

"We could stop them now," Gaius said.

"We need to see how far the pattern extends," the ship replied.

"We don't even need to do anything overt," Gaius pressed. "Use your effectors to plant the suggestion in the hybrid's link to leave this area of space."

"Our analysis of the Cylons indicates that altering their outlook to the Colonials requires a significant and fundamental shock. The destruction of the Twelve Colonies is a programmed response. Infiltration and subtle pushes will not work. Your suggestion would create a feedback loop in the program that will infect the Colonials as well. It would accelerate the coming war."

"You just want to see if the 'Lords of Kobol' or the Cylon 'god' will make an appearance before the end," Gaius said. "To find out if whoever started this experiment is still out there."

"That's a very low probability," the ship said. "As Dancing on Pinheads explained to you."

Gaius shook his head. "Low probability or not, you want the Sublimed to intervene or at least make themselves felt. Your plan for dealing with the Cylons is too overt. You want attention."

"For what reason?"

"The Sublimed represent one of the few real mysteries left to you. It would explain why we've devoted so many resources to this operation."

"Contact with the Sublimed is not a stated goal of Contact's mission to either the Colonials or the Cylons."

"But Special Circumstances is running the operation."

"Your time with the Colonials has made you quite suspicious Gaius."

"That was not a denial."

A/N Only two chapters and the epilogue (if I can ever get it to flow right) left. Next update Friday Afternoon.


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